On Tuesday afternoon at around 5 pm, a fire began in a mountainous area in Alcabideche, a part of the Sintra-Cascais natural park, which covers around 145 square kilometers.
There were around 700 firefighters and 189 vehicles at the scene, along with water planes. The fire authorities were only able to dominate the fire by 4 am on Wednesday due to the wind.
Locals in nearby areas were seen on social media trying to fight the fire, throwing buckets of water onto the flames.
Nine firefighters suffered light injuries fighting the flames, mostly due to exhaustion, while four citizens had to be assisted due to smoke inhalation.
Cascais 🔥 pic.twitter.com/1zA4R0W9jz
— Marcelo Freitas 🇪🇺 (@freitascascais) July 25, 2023
The authorities evacuated residents from Zambujeiro, Cabreiro, and Murches, as well as 800 animals from a nearby kennel and animal shelter.
Access to a highway called A5 was cut as the flames kept spreading, arguably due to winds that reached 80 km/h. This highway connects Cascais to Lisbon and was cut between Alvide and Cascais in both directions. This was done as a precaution due to the smoke.
#Cascais God bless the firefighters 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/Z05UIJNDT3
— Michael H (@chillinan) July 25, 2023
Portugal is one of the countries most hit by wildfires in Europe. Last summer was one of the most severe fire seasons yet, resulting in nearly 105,000 acres burned.
Nearly 16% of the Serra da Estrela park burnt to the ground, the largest fire in Portugal in the last five years.
As temperatures and instances of drought continue to increase, wildfires will become even more frequent in Portugal.
If you see a fire call the emergency services at 112.
